


do it right

by angstonly



Series: redditverse stories [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Boyfriends, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Rejection, finally finished this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:07:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23768233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angstonly/pseuds/angstonly
Summary: "try again next week, baby." renjun punctuates his rejections with the sweetest of kisses, so soft and tender that jaemin can't exactly be upset about it. (though he is, becausewhy) "now, now, don't pout. i'm sure you'll get it right eventually."(or: renjun keeps rejecting jaemin's marriage proposals because he's not doing it right)
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Na Jaemin
Series: redditverse stories [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1554658
Comments: 16
Kudos: 160





	do it right

**Author's Note:**

> WOW this has been sitting in my drafts for a while !! but in light of the wedding au dropping soon, i wanted to get this out before that :D
> 
> story makes more sense if you've read the [reddit au](https://twitter.com/scammerjaem/status/1194302700495736833) (and the [prequel](https://twitter.com/scammerjaem/status/1199576409494245376)) but i don't think they're really necessary.
> 
> anyway !! thank u for all the love for my reddit universe <3 all these side stories would not have been possible without all my readers ;u;
> 
> (it's 6am this is completely unbeta'd/unedited)

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* — *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"no, not like this. do it right."

renjun frowns at him, stepping forward to close the box jaemin has been holding towards him. jaemin stares at him, blinks as the confusion settles on his features. he thought he finally cracked the code — finally understood what renjun meant when he said no the first time. alas, he is still in the wrong. again, his efforts end up as a rejected proposal. and jaemin doesn't know what "doing it right" actually means.

"try again next week, baby." renjun punctuates his rejections with the sweetest of kisses, so soft and tender that jaemin can't exactly be upset about it. (though he is, because _why_ ) "now, now, don't pout. i'm sure you'll get it right eventually."

renjun's laughter is jaemin's favorite song, but he can't deny the ache of not _knowing_ how to finally get the sweet yes he's been wanting since they were only eighteen, when jaemin realized that there would never be anyone other than renjun for him. renjun pulls him up before making his way towards the room they've converted into an office, two desks on opposite sides of the room where they can work until the late hours (whenever jaemin actually feels like working). life post-university isn't awfully different for renjun, who gets accepted into graduate school. his study habits haven't changed much, except he now has much more work to do and has employed the aid of coffee to persist with his nighttime routine. (he rejects jaemin's typical concoction of death though.)

jaemin pouts anyway, watching renjun as he smiles to himself while getting all of his study materials ready. with a sigh, he turns and shoves the velvet box back into his pocket. for a genius like na jaemin, challenges are never quite challenges. he can solve most puzzles without much thought. but huang renjun is the most difficult puzzle there is and while it can be frustrating, jaemin wouldn't have it any other way.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* — *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

a week passes and jaemin is stumped. he thinks and thinks and thinks and it's like every bit of romance in his body has dissipated and left him a typical man who struggles at proposals — which he really isn't. if anything, any other person would have already said yes the first time jaemin asked. but huang renjun isn't just any other person. jaemin knows this very well.

"this is getting really sad, jaem," mark pats him on the back as he groans out loud, running a hand through platinum blonde hair. "but i don't really know if i can help you. renjun has always been a question mark to everyone. other than you, that is. and if _you_ can't figure it out, i highly doubt we can."

jeno nods in earnest, giving jaemin another pat on his back. "maybe you should just ask him."

jaemin sits up, alarmed and urgent. "absolutely not. _no_. i can't just _ask him_. the fuck? no! i have to — i need to figure this out on my own."

mark snorts and he and jeno exchange a look. some things never change, they both think. even in their adulthood, jaemin just has to solve things by himself. although in full honesty, jaemin always does. it's one of the things they both love and hate about the third person in their trio.

jaemin looks back at his best friends, pure agony on his face. neither mark nor jeno have seen him this distraught in a while and they can't help but chuckle and find jaemin cute. "how would you guys propose?"

they both cough at this, exchanging nervous glances once more. silence fills the air, almost uncomfortably so, until mark clears his throat and cuts through it with a shaky voice. "it's, uh— well, it's kind of different when it's three of us, you know? hell, three-way marriages aren't even legal. if anything, it will all just be unofficial and i don't—i'm not really sure how it would work in that case. not to mention it's too early for any of us to, um, think about stuff like that—"

"honey," jaemin quirks a brow, turning to face him with a playful smile. "your voice is shaking and you're rambling. you _have_ thought about it."

mark makes a wet choking noise and turns away. jeno does the same. jaemin snorts and pats them both on the head. "you guys are cute," jaemin coos, ruffling their hair. "but trust me when i say it's going to end up with hyuck taking charge with proposals and stuff. you two would be too nervous. and hyuck is hyuck."

"not if he runs off with yangyang first," jeno quips with a soft chuckle. "that vacation, i swear. hyuckie _actually_ asked us if we would be down for a foursome."

jaemin looks over at jeno with an amused smile. "and? did you say yes?"

jeno answers by turning red and avoiding his eyes. cute.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* — *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

another week passes and nothing comes to mind. jaemin is getting more and more distressed as time passes but renjun stays focused on his dissertation. jaemin figures that desperate times call for desperate measures. so he resigns and group facetimes the two people he knows would be able to help him out with renjun other than renjun himself.

"my oh my, na jaemin," donghyuck theatrically coos at him as soon as he answers. "both me _and_ dejun? what are you trying to get at, loverboy?"

"renjun used to call him pretty boy," dejun snorts, adjusting his camera so that both he and guanheng were on the screen. "guanheng's here, hope you don't mind." dejun adds as an afterthought.

"you probably already know why i'm calling..." jaemin begins, voice trailing off at the end.

"i would assume it's because renjun keeps rejecting you every time you propose." guanheng deadpans. jaemin notes inwardly how guanheng hasn't changed since high school—always so forthright and honest. not that jaemin minded in the least. he's helped renjun and jaemin as a couple since their teenage years with such candor.

dejun slaps him on the arm, though. another thing that hasn't changed much since high school. donghyuck laughs, shaking his head. jaemin watches with a fondness in his eyes at the sight of two worlds colliding, all because of huang renjun.

"he keeps saying that i need to _do it right_ ," jaemin sighs. "i'm honestly lost. i don't know what _right_ is. i thought i was doing everything right, you know?"

dejun and guanheng share a knowing look. "donghyuck?" dejun asks. donghyuck nods in response. another code apparently lost on jaemin and it frustrates him even more. he stares at his screen, focus moving from face to face to face.

"look, we have a date to go to," dejun sighs, shaking his head. "but jaem, you literally know the answer to this. trust us, you already know."

and the two hang up.

"that... doesn't help me at all." jaemin groans, lips pressed together in a thin tight line. "hyuck, _help_."

donghyuck chortles, an obnoxious laugh that is so absolutely donghyuck that jaemin can't even get mad at it. he stares straight into the camera, almost like he's staring straight into jaemin's soul. "just think about it, reddit boy."

and then he's gone.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* — *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

it all dawns on him one thursday afternoon.

he's lying in bed hugging a pillow, reflecting on how far he and renjun have come since their first meeting. he can't help but laugh at the memory, remembering how adamantly renjun refused to even just be his friend. curiosity led to genuine care, and soon enough jaemin realized he was in love.

jaemin knew at eighteen that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with renjun. he remembers being kept up late at night, imagining proposal and wedding scenarios like a lovesick schoolboy. if he dug through all of his old journals, he's sure he'd find one filled with just scenarios. he used to think about it all the time, not that renjun ever really knew. he never really told renjun until —

 _oh_. _holy shit_.

jaemin jumps out of bed, tripping over his own feet from the sheer speed in which he moves. everything finally clicks in his mind, the puzzle now finally solved. _that's_ what renjun has meant all this time. jaemin can't help but grin at the thought.

"hyuck! hyuckie! lee donghyuck!" jaemin screams at his phone as soon as donghyuck picks his call up. "i figured it out! jesus fucking christ, you were so slick with that hint!"

donghyuck laughs with a lilt in his tone, proud of himself. "i knew you'd be able to get it."

"i didn't actually understand the hint," jaemin admits, grinning. "but it made sense once i finally figured it out. i can't believe he remembered all that."

"we may not have jaemin-strength memory, but we remember stuff like that," donghyuck snorts, rolling his eyes at him. "so? now what? you figured it out, but you have a little bit of a problem."

jaemin just keeps grinning. "who do you think i am?" he raises a playful brow at donghyuck. "i know exactly what to do."

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* — *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"what the fuck?" is what renjun says the moment he walks through the front door that night.

everything is dark except for the pink lights coming from the living room. he doesn't bother to set his things down as he walks further into their apartment, curiosity making the decision for him. jaemin has always been the type for surprises like this — they would be on the most arbitrary of days, done on a whim whenever jaemin gets an idea. he never did have much of an impulse control when it was something to do with renjun.

"nana?" renjun calls out. jaemin answers with a quick _i'm over here_ and renjun immediately walks over.

renjun likes to think that he knows jaemin well enough now that his surprises won't be complete surprises anymore. he's absolutely wrong. what greets him in the living room is beyond anything he would imagine and it effectively knocks the air out of his lungs. everywhere he looks, there's a cherry blossom lamp that mimics an actual tree. in the middle of the room where their coffee table used to be stands the largest one.

and right in front of it is jaemin.

"cherry blossoms aren't blooming for another couple of months," he begins to say, reaching over to take renjun's hand in his. "and i didn't want to wait so i had to get creative with it."

"it's beautiful, nana." he smiles, already feeling a lump in his throat. if renjun is right (which he's sure he is), it will be next to impossible to contain his feelings at what comes next.

"it's not exactly what i said back then, but i have a feeling you wanted one thing about that in particular. so here it goes."

jaemin lets go of his hand and pulls an envelope from his pocket. he hasn't even said anything yet and renjun already feels like crying. renjun watches him carefuly, hands slightly trembling as he takes deep breaths. finally, jaemin unfolds his letter and reads:

to my angel huang renjun,

i will marry you someday. i know it's foolish to think about fairytales and happy-ever-afters, especially when we're still so young, but i just know i'm going to marry you someday. there is no doubt in my mind that you are the love of my life and that i will never be able to love anyone as much as i love you.

i'm sure people would think it's stupid. hell, if i told you this now, i'm sure you'd call me an idiot too. but i'm your idiot, renjun. i've been your idiot since the first time you told me you hated me, since the first time you told me to go bald, since the first time you told me you hoped my dick would fall off. i've been yours since the first time you looked at me, since the first time you smiled at me, since the first time you held my hand. i've been yours from the start, renjun. and i have no doubt in my mind that i always will be yours.

you've changed my life in ways i never thought possible. every time spent with you is another infinity of happiness added onto my life. you always say that i'm full of love and that you learned love because of me, but i am who i am now because you've given me a chance to love you.

i'm a stupid teenager in love, junnie. but i just know it in my heart that it's going to be you and me at the finish line. you're it for me, renjun. there is no me without you.

love always,  
nana

"it really sounds like a stupid teenager in love, huh?" jaemin chuckles as he folds the piece of paper and tucks it back into its envelope. "not knowing how to be without you, placing my entire life in your hands — it was a very eighteen-year old jaemin thing to say."

"yeah," renjun chuckles too, stepping closer to wrap his arms around jaemin. his heart is beating so fast, tears in his eyes as he takes everything jaemin says to heart. "things are different now."

"they are," jaemin agrees, holding renjun tightly in his arms. "i've learned how to live without you and live for myself. i've learned how to be as unapologetically me as you are unapologetically you. i've learned to be on my own, to live a life independent of the bullshit that used to follow me as a teenager.

"but the one thing that hasn't changed is my love for you, angel. if anything, i keep loving you more and more every day. there is a jaemin without renjun, i know now that there is. but if i wouldn't ever choose that life, not when being with you is when i'm the most me."

jaemin pulls away, unable to hold back the tears now streaming down his face. it's been a long and emotional ride for both of them, an adventure ten years in the making. he pulls the ring out from its box and smiles through the overwhelming emotions.

"marry me, renjun." jaemin says, voice soft yet firm as he looks deeply into renjun's eyes.

"i hate you," renjun wipes on his own tears, hands shaking as he takes the ring from jaemin and wears it. "it took you _this_ long to get it right?"

they've never known more happiness than right at this moment, kissing under the cherry blossoms jaemin brought just for him.

theirs is a story ten years in the making. tonight is another chapter closed, another chapter opened. life has never been easy for them, but they know they can make it through anything.

they're renjun and jaemin after all. they've always been meant to be.

**Author's Note:**

> talk to me :~) [twt](http://twitter.com/scammerjaem) :: [cc](http://curiouscat.me/angstonly)


End file.
